


Level Up

by Waddles889



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, Crying, Fix-It, Fix-It of Sorts, Gen, I ran out of tag ideas, Lance (Voltron) Angst, Lance (Voltron)-centric, Shiro (Voltron) Has a Clone, Symbolism, Video & Computer Games, comment blease, hmmm what do tag, i crave validation, i wrote this before season 6 but i never posted it so here, it could be a fix-it if you want, klance also if you squint, plance if you squint, pre season 6, really you can squint and see multiple ships i aint picky
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-28
Updated: 2018-06-28
Packaged: 2019-05-30 02:02:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,060
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15086627
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Waddles889/pseuds/Waddles889
Summary: There was something wrong with Shiro. He had yelled at him, shut down his ideas. Sure, before he had disappeared, Shiro hadn’t exactly loved all of Lance’s antics, but he’d at least listened to his ideas. And he had certainly never shouted like that. Lance frowned and leaned closer to the TV screen. There had to be something to tip him off.***Lance thinks over recent events regarding Shiro's strange behavior, and comes to a startling conclusion.





	Level Up

**Author's Note:**

> heyyy guys, welcome to the vloggg i wrote this a while back, around the time season 5 came out. i kept forgetting to post it so here y'all go. i'm pretty proud of this tbh. comment blease i crave validation

There was something wrong with Shiro. 

Lance had locked himself up in his room again, blanket draped over his shoulders, back hunched over, eyes focused on the screen in front of him. The room was dark, lit up only by the staticy TV screen.

His leg bounced up and down as he leaned closer, but he was barely thinking about the game itself. His mind had long since wandered. 

Shiro had yelled at him, shut down his ideas. Sure, before he had disappeared, Shiro hadn’t exactly loved all of Lance’s antics, but he’d at least  _ listened  _ to his ideas. And he had certainly never  _ shouted  _ like that. 

And he most definitely didn’t feel like himself. He said so himself. But  _ what exactly  _ was wrong here?

Lance frowned and leaned closer to the TV screen. There had to be something to tip him off.

 

_ It was last week. The team was about to head off on a mission when Lance was suddenly hit with a spike of anxiety. He had no idea where it came from, but in less than a second, his heart was pounding in his ears, his hands were trembling, and he couldn’t get enough air. He couldn’t breathe.  _ Alright, breathing exercises. Square breathing. You got this. _ Lance told himself. _

_ Lance focused on walking. If he could make it to his hangar, he would be fine. _

_ “Hey, are you okay?” It was Allura. _

_ “Oh, hey, Princess! Yeah, yeah, totally fine.” _

_ She didn’t seem convinced. “You’re shaking. Are you ill? Did you eat enough? Perhaps you should stay behind and rest.” _

_ Lance shook his head. “I’ll be fine.” In, out, in, out. _

_ Hunk spoke up from behind him, voice quiet. “I’m not so sure, Lance. Allura, he might be close to having an anxiety attack. He needs to stay back until he’s calmed down.” _

_ Shiro entered the room. “What are you guys  _ doing? _ We need to go. What’s the hold-up?” _

_ Pidge made her way over to Lance. She softened her expression and whispered, “Can I touch you?”  _

_ Lance nodded. Gently, Pidge rubbed his back. Lance let his shoulders relax slightly. _

_ Shiro groaned and rubbed his temple. “Lance, if you’re causing trouble again-” _

_ Hunk interrupted. “It’s not that, Shiro, he’s not feeling well.” _

_ “Well, get over it and let’s go. We can’t delay any longer.” _

_ Lance swallowed. He wrung his hands, fighting to keep calm. Nobody said anything for a stretch of time. _

_ Shiro broke the silence. “Come on, let’s go.” _

_ Nobody moved. _

_ “I said, let’s  _ go.”

_ “No,” Lance whispered. _

_ Something snapped. _

_ “What did you say?” _

_ Lance inhaled sharply. “I-I can’t. I-I-I-” _

_ Why did he do that? He couldn’t breathe. His heart beat faster. Blood roared in his ears. Shiro’s face was dark. Lance’s knees shook. “Okay.” _

_ Shiro clapped a hand on Lance’s shoulder. “Good choice.” _

_ And he was gone. _

 

Lance shifted his position slightly. Shiro had never been so condescending before, and he certainly would’ve never dismissed a team member’s mental health like that. Especially considering his  _ own  _ mental health. Right? 

He ran a hand through his hair and leaned to the left, eyes still not leaving the screen. His tongue poked slightly out of his mouth with effort. Sure, it was out of character, but that was only one instance. Lance couldn’t just jump to conclusions like that. But what about when Shiro yelled at him to stay out of it? What about when he refused to let the team decide things for themselves.

And then there was that time with Pidge…

_ Lance was laying on his bed, staring up at the ceiling. One headphone was on, letting soft music filter into his ear. He wasn’t doing much of anything, just trying to pass the time. Thinking. _

_ There was a knock on the door, and it slid open. Lance sat up and pushed his headphones down around his neck. Pidge stood in the doorway, clutching her arm. _

_ “Hey Pidge, what’s up?” _

_ Pidge sniffed. _

_ “Pidge?” _

_ She walked farther into the room, letting the door slide shut. She balled her hands into fists and wiped her eyes under her glasses. “H-Hey, Lance. Um, can I- can I talk to you about suh-something?” _

_ Lance crossed to Pidge, expression soft with concern. “Yeah, of course? What’s up?” _

_ Pidge avoided eye contact, rubbing her arm subconsciously. She licked her lips and swallowed, taking a shaky breath before speaking. “It’s st-stupid, but, um. Shiro- um, Shiro yelled at me? And I know, I  _ know _ it’s childish but it’s just- I was already really stressed and then he- and then I- and-” _

_ “Oh, Pidge…” Lance offered a hug, and Pidge threw her arms around him. “Why did he yell at you?” _

_ Her voice was muffled by Lance’s shirt, but was clear enough to make out. “He asked me to analyze some, uh, some data, and so I was working on that for-for a couple hours or s-so, and then Hunk dropped by and-and told me to take a-a break for a bit, and I remembered what you said about breaks and so I did and-” _

_ Lance stroked Pidge’s hair gently. “Hey, you did a good thing. It’s unhealthy not to take breaks.” _

_ “And then Shiro came by and said that he told me to analyze that data and I told him I did, I was just taking a-a break, and then he told me that this is war and we don’t, we don't take breaks, and I was being chi-childish.” _

_ Why… why would Shiro do that? He  _ loved  _ Pidge. Why would he do that? _

_ “Well, Shiro’s wrong. You did the right thing. And Pidge?” _

_ Pidge looked up. _

_ “If Shiro does anything else like that, I  _ will  _ best him in hand-to-hand combat.” _

_ Pidge tried and failed to stifle a laugh. _

 

It just didn’t make sense. Ever since they found him in that Galra ship, he hadn’t been acting quite right. He shut down ideas. He yelled. And he didn’t remember what had happened in the astral plane. And, he himself had mentioned a headache, and that he didn’t feel like himself. 

It was almost like he  _ wasn’t  _ himself.

Almost like he was never himself to begin with.

But that was ridiculous. Right? 

Then again…

 

_ They had been planning this mission for days now. Meet up with the Blade of Marmora, split up, collect data, take out sentries if necessary. They had gone over the plans a couple of times in detail, and now it was finally happening. _

_ Lance rounded the corner, stepping as lightly as possible. This was the meet-up location. All he had to do now was make sure everyone was with him and wait for the Blade to show up. A part of him wished that Keith was with the Blade, but he pushed that thought to the back of his mind and scanned his team.  _

_ Pidge, Allura, Hunk, Shiro. They were all here, good.  _

_ An air vent shifted. Lance tightened his grip on his bayard, ready to aim and fire. The vent was carefully removed and a figure, clad in the Blade’s uniform, dropped to the floor. Another smaller figure followed suit. _

_ The smaller person pressed a button on the side of their mask and it dissolved, revealing- _

_ “Keith?!” Pidge exclaimed. _

_ Lance’s face broke out into a grin. Keith ran up to them, beaming just as wide. _

_ “Alright, we have time for reunions after the mission,” Shiro said, but was smiling nonetheless. He patted Keith on the back. _

_ “Hi, Shiro,” Keith said. _

_ No one wanted to move. _

_ The other Blade member cleared their throat. “Come on, we have to carry out the mission. I think it would be best if we paired off. That would leave one person solo.” _

_ There was a murmur of agreement. They started to split amongst themselves: Hunk and Pidge, Allura and Shiro. Lance rocked back and forth on his heels. Looks like he would be going solo. _

_ Keith walked up to him. Lance couldn’t help it if his face lit up. _

_ The second Blade member nodded. “I’ll send you what you need to be getting. It will be highlighted on the map. Meet back here as soon as you can.”  _

_ With that, everyone went their separate ways. Keith pointed to a hallway leading right. Lance gave an affirmative nod and followed him. Keith didn’t put his mask down again. _

_ They didn’t meet any trouble, ducking behind corners and dashing down hallways.  _

_ And then they met trouble. _

_ Lance paused at a corner. They were only a few yards away from their destination. All was quiet. He started to turn.  _

_ A gun powered up. Keith’s arm shot out and pulled him back just as a laser blast obliterated the section of the wall where Lance’s head had just been. _

_ The comms switched on. “They knew what we were targeting!” Pidge’s voice came. _

_ “Us, too!” said Allura. _

_ Lance couldn’t hear what Keith was hearing, but he was sure the other Blade of Marmora member had experienced the same thing. _

_ Lasers pounded the wall. Sentries advanced. Lance activated his bayard and took out a few, but he could only manage to take down so many before they overwhelmed him. “Keith, we have to go!” _

_ Keith was still swinging his blade. _

_ “Keith! Come on!” Lance yelled, grabbing his arm. He hauled Keith after him and the ran together down the hallway. Pidge and Hunk were already in meet-up area, holding off as many Galra sentries as they could while waiting for the others. Allura and Shiro arrived soon after Lance and Keith, followed by the arrival of Keith’s team member from the Blade. _

_ “We have to go,  _ now.”  _ The Blade member said. Keith nodded, and followed them into the air vent. Before he closed it, he turned to the paladins. _

_ “I’ll see you later,” he said, and activated his mask. _

_ And they were gone. _

_ Allura took out a sentry with her bayard. “We also have to go. Coran is waiting for us.” _

_ As fast as they could, the paladins re-traced their steps from when they entered, just barely making it out before the hall was filled with Galra sentries. _

The Galra  _ knew.  _ Lance finished the video game level and paused at the level select screen, nearly panting. His mind was racing now, and Lance tried to dismiss his thoughts as ridiculous, but he kept getting stuck. 

Hunk was usually right when he trusted his instincts. Hadn’t he been right about Rolo and Nyma? And he didn’t have much evidence at first, and the evidence he did have was small. But it pointed in the same direction.

Ever since Shiro had returned, something had been off. He was so much more irritable. He yelled. He shut down ideas.

He didn’t remember the astral plane.

He didn’t consider the safety of the team as much.

Lance selected the next level.

The Galra started to know what they were doing before they did it.

Shiro was off.

Lance leaned forward, mashing the buttons on his controlling faster, harder. His thoughts were moving too quickly for him to keep up with. Was Shiro-

Could Shiro-

Could Shiro be under the control of the Galra?

Lance almost dismissed the thought but… it wasn’t impossible. In fact, with all that was happening, it was almost completely probable. So many more things were happening that they wouldn’t have even considered a month ago. It wasn’t off the table. And the more Lance thought about it, the more certain he became.

They had never found the real Shiro.

He was still out there somewhere.

 

Being so wrapped up in his thoughts, Lance didn’t even process what he had been doing in the video game. He blinked, and realized that his character wasn’t faring too well.

“Wait, wait, wait!” Lance exclaimed. He leaned even further forward, trying to save himself, but he was too late.

The music played as he lost his last life and he groaned. “Dang it!” Lance said, dropping his controller.

There was a knock on the door behind him. Lance stood up and stretched slightly as he opened it. “Hey, what’s up?” he said, smoothing out the wrinkles in his shirt.

“I just wanted to check up on you,” the person answered.

Lance froze.

He looked up.

It was Shiro, with a smile spread across his face. The machinery in his metal arm whirred.

Lance’s stomach dropped.

Behind him, two words flashed on the TV screen.

  
  
_Game Over_

**Author's Note:**

> please comment it keeps me young


End file.
